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Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Texture Pop: Episode 22: Eat All The Wine

This is an interesting episode. Garrett and Sam were each out for various reasons. (You know how it is with various reasons.) As a result, it was just Chris and I. This is not the first time the two of us have recorded something by ourselves, so we knew we would be able to handle it.

0:00:00 Introduction
We have a new (unknowing) sponsor, in personaforums.txt. I follow a lot of strange ".txt" accounts.

0:01:15 Viewer Questions
The guys who sent in questions this week got shafted a little, because only half the cast was here to answer. Still, Chris and I handled our own. This section went by pretty quick this week.

"I want to know if any of you guys have come into contact with a game called The Zoo Race?"
Like I said in the cast, only from the JonTron video.

"Have any of you guys seen that movie, El Arca?"
Nope. And given what I learned in this podcast, I don't think I want to.

Remember, if you wish to send in questions, comments, or something you'd like us to talk about, send it into thetexturepop@gmail.com or submit it to one of the group's various social media accounts. They'll in the YouTube description.

0:07:00 Gaming NewsAliens: Colonial Marines was pulled off Steam
I wish this was Steam doing something to clean up their storefront. Unfortunately, this is mostly about contract disputes. Those are too messy to really get into, because the legal-speak can be difficult for a non-lawyer like myself to parse. A lot of games are in limbo because of that very thing.

Mighty No. 9 is nearly finished
We discuss a lot in regards to this news.
But I'm genuinely interested in hearing what people think about whether or not Mighty No. 9 is a rip-off of Mega-man or not. It's an interesting question.
And now I know Inafune didn't make the franchise, he's just well-known for his work on it. Good to know.

Final Fantasy XV (and female Cid)
I am personally completely okay with the prospect of a female Cid. The only through-lines with Cid is that there is always a character in Final Fantasy named Cid, and he's always a technical expert relative to the technology of the world he inhabits. I see no problem with a sex change, providing the other attributes, which are common among Cids, hold.
BTW, Dukes of Hazard was the movie franchise I was thinking of during this segment. I have no idea how I forgot. The outfit brought back memories of seeing those kinds of movies. Watch the trailer in the link above, and you'll know why.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2015
It's a spectacle to watch, and still on-going as of the time of this publishing. You guys might be interested in checking it out.

0:29:00 I beat Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.
For the record, I did not even achieve 100% of the game. I wrote an article about my feelings on the game's pacing. Overall, it's a good game, but you need to really like old-school RPG design to enjoy this game. Liking Persona 3 and/or 4 isn't necessarily enough. It's mostly a gateway Etrian Odyssey game, with a Persona wrapper.

0:36:30 I watched Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded (via Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX)
It's so pointless, that I feel extremely annoyed by it's existence. This should have been a small novella at the most, because there's not really enough story to justify it. Fortunately, I didn't have to play it, because 2.5 only has the cutscenes (which is the less painful way to consume this media).
Most Kingdom Hearts fans hate this game for a reason.
It was also 5 hours long, longer than it took me to watch 365/2 Days in 1.5 ReMIX.

0:41:10 I just beat Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix (via Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX)
I have gone on record several times, criticizing the writing on Kingdom Hearts 2. Atlantica, for example, is distilled awful in one segment of the game for a variety of reasons. In a more general sense, it went from a Disney-plot with Square-Enix characters to a Square-Enix plot with Disney characters. The difference is noticeable.
But it plays just so well. And there is a ton of new content added to Final Mix. Even people who 100% completed Kingdom Hearts 2 back in the day would be well-served by purchasing the 2.5 ReMIX. It's worth it for this alone, but the addition of Birth by Sleep makes it a must-buy.

I must also confess that I took the whole "What do they eat?" thing from Shamus Young. I've mentioned him before, but you should check it out.

0:54:30 I finished my Holiday Movie BingeX-Men: Days of Future Past and Kick-Ass were alright movies, but not great.Guardians of the Galaxy, however, was an awesome movie, and a great finale to my holiday binge.

1:01:50 Chris has been playing more Assassin's Creed 3.
And I am loving every single complaint he has towards this game.
There are interesting things to it, but most of the game is so terrible that it's not worth it.

1:08:15 Chris has played Wolfenstein: The New Order.
It is legitimately surprised at how good this game is. As Sam has said before, it almost feels like the Wolfenstein brand name does not severe a game this good. It's well-written, plays great, and brings up some interesting points.
Still, it does have some flaws, and we call a few of them into attention here.

1:16:00 Chris has been playing Destiny...
...and he enjoys it. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's a solid shooter. I can vouch for that from my time with the beta.
It just feels empty. There's not a lot there. That is the part of the game that is lacking.
There are also just so many strange design decisions. Chiefly among them is the fact that you cannot access the game's lore in-game. You need to go online to view them. That just doesn't make sense.
I would love to have been there to see how these design choices were made. It has to be incredibly fascinating.

1:28:20 Wrapping Up.
In which I encourage Chris to embrace his tastes in gaming.